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Altogether 1462 women aged 38, 46, 50, 54 and 60 yr were examined in 1968/69 in a combined medical and denial population study in Gothenburg, Sweden. Number of tooth surfaces restored with amalgam fillings was assessed. The examination was repealed in 1980/81 including a new dental examination. The results from a number of biochemical analyses of blood, serum and urine were analyzed for a possible statistical relationship to number of denial amalgam fillings. As emphasis has been put in the literature on special influence from amalgam on kidney function and on the immunological system, special attention was paid to variables which might reflect these functions in our analyses. When potential con-founders were taken into consideration, no significant correlations remained which seemed to be of clinical importance. Specifically, amalgam fillings were not found to be associated with impairment of the kidney function or the immunological status.

– Altogether 1462 women aged 38, 46, 50, 54 and 60 yr were initially examined in 1968–69 in a combined medical and dental population study in Gothenburg, Sweden. Number of tooth surfaces restored with amalgam fillings was assessed. The incidences of myocardial infarction, stroke, diabetes, cancer and overall mortality were determined during a 20-yr follow-up period. Women with few amalgam tooth fillings had increased incidence of myocardial infarction, stroke, diabetes and early death compared with women with a large number of fillings. However, the significant inverse correlations between number of amalgam tooth fillings and the endpoints studied disappeared when number of teeth and socioeconomic group were included in a multivariate analysis. The study thus did not provide any evidence for a correlation between amalgam fillings and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer or early death.

A dental examination was included in a mainly medically oriented population study of women in Gothenburg, Sweden. From panoramic radiographs the numbers of remaining teeth, restored teeth (fillings and crowns), pontics, and endodontically treated teeth were assessed in 1968-69 and in a 12-yr follow-up study in 1980-81. Women aged 38, 46, 50, 54 and 60 yr were initially studied. In the follow-up study, a group of 38-yr-old women was added. A comparison between cross-sectional data in 1968-69 and in 1980-81 in women aged 38 and 50 yr showed some marked differences. Dentulous women of the same age had in 1980-81 a larger mean number of teeth and a larger number of restored teeth (including crowns). The number of restored teeth in relation to remaining teeth was the same in the 38-yr-old women in 1980-81 but had increased in the 50-yr-olds. The absolute and relative numbers (in relation to remaining teeth) of crowns (also studied separately), pontics, and endodontically treated teeth were about the same in 1968-69 and 1980-81 both for the 38-yr-olds and the 50-yr-olds. There was a slight but statistically significant increase only in the absolute number of crowns for the 50-yr-olds. The follow-up study showed a moderate decrease of remaining teeth in all age groups. Related to remaining teeth, the number of restored teeth (including crowns), crowns, pontics, and endodontically treated teeth showed a statistically significant increase for all age groups except for the oldest, in which group a significant increase was only observed for crowns.

Women of different age groups in Gothenburg, Sweden were examined in 1968-69 and in 1980-81 by means of orthopantomography. The frequencies of missing teeth and edentulousness were determined. The follow-up results among the same women showed only a small increase in edentulousness and in number of lost teeth during the period. A substantial decrease in edentulousness and frequency of missing teeth was observed between women of comparable age groups over the 12-yr interval, presumably as a result of preventive measures and increased availability of dental health care resources.

There has been a lot of discussion concerning the possible influence of amalgam tooth fillings on different symptoms and complaints. Information on this topic could be obtained from 1024 dentulous women aged 38-72, participants in a population study of women in Gothenburg, Sweden, who answered a questionnaire with 30 specific questions concerning different symptoms and complaints. The answers were related to number of tooth surfaces restored with amalgam. Due to the sampling method and the high participation rate, the participants were representative of dentulous women of the same age in the general population. No positive correlations were found between number of amalgam fillings and number of symptoms, nor between number of amalgam fillings and prevalence of specified single symptoms or complaints. On the contrary there were a number of age-matched significant correlations in the opposite direction, which means that women with a high number of amalgam fillings reported a lower number of symptoms and complaints than women with a low number of amalgam fillings. These inverse relationships between number of amalgam fillings and different symptoms and complaints usually disappeared, when number of teeth was taken into consideration as a background variable. The inverse relationships with abdominal pain and poor appetite were, however, independent of both number of teeth and socioeconomic status as based on multivariate analysis. This study does not support the view of a correlation between amalgam fillings and symptoms and complaints, at least not on a population level.

A longitudinal population study of 1462 women, aged 38-60, was started in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1968-69. In univariate analysis of the results from 1968-69, smokers were found to have a significantly lower number of remaining teeth than non-smokers had. The differences between smokers and non-smokers with respect to edentulousness and number of remaining teeth was further accentuated 12 yr later. The mean number of teeth lost during the 12-yr follow-up period was 3.5 among smokers and 2.1 among non-smokers, i.e. 67% higher among smokers than among non-smokers. The associations were independent of age, education, socio-economic group, marital status, frequency of toothbrushing, and frequency of visits to a dentist. It is concluded that smoking seems to play an important role as far as tooth loss is concerned.